Ill. ICE Detainees Win Class Cert. Over Facility Conditions

By Lauraann Wood

An Illinois federal judge said Monday that he will give class treatment to two civil immigration detainees' claims that they experienced "inhumane" conditions at a holding facility officials have allegedly used as a detention center during ramped-up enforcement operations.

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9th Circ. Strikes Down Trans Patients' Win In ACA Bias Case

By Kellie Mejdrich

The Ninth Circuit upended a win Monday for patients who challenged Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois' administration of their employer-provided health plans containing gender-affirming care exclusions, ordering a lower court to reexamine the case in light of intervening authority from the U.S. Supreme Court.

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DOJ Defends HPE Merger Deal As 'Prudent Compromise'

By Bryan Koenig

The Justice Department told a California federal judge to pay no heed to the "politicians and advocacy groups" opposing the controversial settlement clearing Hewlett Packard Enterprise's $14 billion purchase of Juniper Networks, arguing their concerns about improper lobbying influence are outside the scope of the court's review.

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AGs Seek To Freeze EPA Solar Grant Funds During Challenge

By Abigail Harrison

A coalition of states asked a Washington federal judge to maintain federal money for Solar for All grants during the pendency of their lawsuit challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's decision to kill the program, arguing that they're likely to prevail on their claims that the agency can't legally claw back funds Congress already obligated.

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Judge Mulls Blocking Trump's Conditions For Disaster Grants

By Celeste Bott

An Illinois federal judge considering whether to block the Trump administration from imposing certain conditions on recipients of federal emergency funds probed counsel for local governments suing over them about the scope of the relief they are seeking and questioned if the federal government's terms go beyond what Congress intended in funding the grants.

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Cannabis Co. Not Covered In Product Safety Suit, Insurer Says

By Hope Patti

A cannabis company is not entitled to coverage for a proposed class action accusing it of misrepresenting the nature and safety of its cannabis-infused products, a Nationwide unit told an Illinois federal court, saying the suit doesn't allege bodily injury, property damage, or personal and advertising injury to trigger coverage.

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Tucker Ellis Names New Leaders In Cleveland, Chicago

By Jake Maher

Tucker Ellis LLP on Monday named new office leaders in Cleveland and Chicago, selecting the former head of the firm's finance group and a national food and beverage industry leader for the roles.

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E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Dynamic Databases

Several recent federal court decisions illustrate how parties continue to grapple with the discovery of data in dynamic databases, so counsel involved in these disputes must consider how structured data should be produced consistent with the requirements of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, say attorneys at Sidley.

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Analysis

Perkins Coie's Trump Fight Doesn't Scare Off UK Suitor

By Chris Villani

Perkins Coie LLP's ongoing fight with the Trump administration did not deter a proposed combination with British law firm Ashurst, signaling that the legal community is not worried about fallout from the president's suspension of the firm's security clearances.

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Judge Upholds NY Law Blocking ICE Courthouse Arrests

By Andrea Keckley

New York beat back a federal lawsuit challenging the state's policy barring immigration officials from arresting people near its courthouses, after a federal judge rejected the U.S. Department of Justice's preemption claims.

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Brief

Conn. Atty Fined $500 For AI-Generated Errors In Wage Suit

By Emily Sawicki

In an order that noted an attorney's remorse, a Connecticut federal judge sanctioned a solo practitioner $500 this week for submitting a brief packed with false, AI-generated case citations, finding the fake authorities wasted court resources, risked misleading a pro se litigant and undermined trust in the judicial system.

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Brief

Missouri Federal Judge To Take Senior Status

By Courtney Bublé

U.S. District Judge Douglas Harpool of the Western District of Missouri has given notice he will take senior status upon the confirmation of state Judge Megan Benton, whose nomination to the federal bench President Donald Trump announced Friday.

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Republican Senators Seek Judge Boasberg's Suspension

By Courtney Bublé

Six Republican senators, three of whom sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee, are asking that Chief U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg of the District of Columbia be administratively suspended while Congress considers his impeachment.

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Sanctioned Atty Convinces Mo. Court Errors Not Caused By AI

By Emily Sawicki

A Missouri federal judge sanctioned former counsel for Liberty Mutual Personal Insurance Co. Monday for including citation errors in a motion this fall, finding that, although the attorney likely inserted the errors herself without the use of AI software, "such carelessness, exacerbated by a lack of internal guardrails, is entirely unacceptable."

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Ex-Dechert Moscow Office MP Joins BCLP's DC Office

By Jack Rodgers

Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP has hired the one-time managing partner of Dechert LLP's Moscow office, whose practice focuses on advising corporations, banks, investment funds and other clients on mergers and acquisitions matters, cross-border transactions and matters related to emerging markets, the firm announced Tuesday.

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Non-Law Firm Lobby Shops Overtake BigLaw In Trump Era

By Alison Knezevich

Law firms have been K Street's top earners in recent years, but some non-law firm lobbying shops, including Trump-connected Ballard Partners, have surpassed major legal industry players in 2025 as clients seek access to the White House in a year of upheaval.

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Latino Atty Drops Bias, Retaliation Suit Against Va. Law Firm

By Irene Spezzamonte

A Latino former managing partner for an employee-side law firm told a Maryland federal court Tuesday that he agreed to end his lawsuit claiming he was fired for flagging bias and advocating to raise a Black attorney's pay.

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Clifford Chance Adds Day Pitney Energy Pro In DC

By Christine DeRosa

Clifford Chance LLP has grown its energy regulatory and markets practice in the nation's capital with the addition of a veteran attorney from Day Pitney LLP.

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NY AG James Blasts 'Outrageous Conduct' Behind Indictment

By Adrian Cruz

New York Attorney General Letitia A. James has told a Virginia federal court to dismiss the U.S. government's indictment of her, calling it "patently unconstitutional" and "outrageous conduct."

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McGuireWoods Is Delaying Defamation Case, NC Justices Told

By Hayley Fowler

The former CEO of a managed care organization who alleges McGuireWoods and one of its ex-partners defamed him during a press conference more than seven years ago has told North Carolina's top court not to take up the case, panning their petition as yet another stalling tactic.

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Law Firms Being Tested With Associate Performance Reviews

By Tracey Read

Eighty-three percent of U.S. and Canadian associates receive a yearly annual review, but there is room for improvement in how law firms evaluate their attorneys' performance, according to a new study.

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Trump Asks 11th Circ. For Redo On Clinton, DNC RICO Claims

By David Minsky

President Donald Trump urged the Eleventh Circuit on Tuesday to revive his Florida federal lawsuit alleging a racketeering conspiracy between Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee to thwart his 2016 presidential campaign with false Russian collusion evidence, saying the complaint was tossed without giving him another chance to replead.

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Brief

Rumble Alerts 9th Circ. To Recusal Bid Over Google Ties

By Emily Sawicki

Days after Rumble asked a California federal judge to consider recusal in the event the Ninth Circuit revives its antitrust lawsuit against Google, the video-sharing site flagged its recusal bid to the Ninth Circuit itself, filing a motion for judicial notice of the district court judge's friendship with Google's top in-house litigation chief.

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1st Circ. May Nix Trump Funding Freeze In 'Weird' Case

By Chris Villani

The First Circuit on Tuesday hinted that a federal judge may have been in bounds when blocking the Trump administration from withholding certain funds for states, expressing skepticism that the judge's order was improper or overly broad.

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Atty Asks 5th Circ. To Address Outlying Matters In TM Case

By Elliot Weld

An attorney locked in a trademark battle with Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP asked the Fifth Circuit to address the case again Tuesday, saying it did not get to several outstanding issues that will affect the case in district court when it vacated the firm's $1 million damages award against him.

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Asst. Gets New Try At Religious Bias Suit Over Wash. Vax Rule

By Ben Adlin

A divided Washington state appeals court panel said Tuesday a lower court was wrong to dismiss a legal assistant's lawsuit accusing the Washington State Attorney General's Office of wrongfully refusing her request for a religious accommodation to the state's COVID-19 vaccine mandate, reopening the suit.

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